Anticreeper.



F. A. PRESTON.

ANTICREEPER.

APPLlATloN FILED ocT.l23, 1914.

Patented sept. 7, 1915.

y M W M@ UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEET FREDERICK A. PRESTON, OFHIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THVE P. & CO.,

' OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

AN TICREEPER.

v Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 7, 1915.

Agpiication filed october 23, 1914. serial No.ses,2a4.

To all ive/0m it m (1y conce/n Be it known that I, FREDERICK A. PRES'-A ToN, a citizen of the Ilnitcd States, residing at Highland Park, in the county of Lake and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Anticreepers, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference bein had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvementsv in rail anchors or rail stays, such devices bein used to prevent the longitudinal creeping o railway rails.

The present invention is applicable more particularly` to rail anchors of the general character indicated in my prior Patent 1,101,658, June th, 1914, said prior rail anchor consisting essentially of a yoke rand a coperating tongue, said tongue being held in flexed position byy said yoke .whereby continual pressure is exerted on said oke to maintain it in effective gripping position.

on the rail base at all times. l

The present improv-,ement iszdirected more particularly toward providing a more posi#v tive wedging engagement between the yoke and the tongue, that is, one less dependent for its efficiency on the resiliency of the tongue or wedge, andthe object of the 1nvention is tol provide an4 improved anti- A'vention, which latter is, of course, suscepti# ble of further embodiments.

Figure 1 is a-rear elevation of 'one form of rail anchor, the rail beingshown in sec- Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof.l Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevation of a further form of device. Fig. 4 is ay section on the line4-4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is afrag-y mentary elevation of af further yform of device showing one step in the assembly thereof. Fig. 6 'is a corresponding elevation ofy .Creeper having the desirable fchamcterifs-g, just mentioned the nal position of they parts. .Fig. 7 is.

a side elevation of an additional form of rail anchor.

In the various views,the vrail is :indicatedy by reference character 1 and the usualcrosstieby vreference character 2. i

InvFigs. land 2, the rail anchor comprises a suitable yoke 3, preferably aforg-` ing,r although it' may be Inade ofv malleable iron or other suitable material, and-"a wedg-` ing-member or tongue 4. The latter is made preferably of malleable iron, although it may be made of any suitable material-which may be bent slightly without bi'ealifing.` 'The yoke 3 is arranged so that its upwardly curved endsbear against the of the rail base near the outer edges thereof, vone of said ends being slightly offset .adjacent to the shoulder-5 to aid in positioning the yoke on the rail base. The wedgiIrg-member 4 is provided with a downwardly ,extending end 6 constituting a tie 'abuttingglange Said member tapersfrom the frontend toward the middle, .forming in effect, a rearwardly pointingwedge 7 The rear' part 8'of said Inemberis arranged normally to lie close t0 and nearly parallel to the base of ythe rail as indicated by, dotted lines in Fig. 2. Aftery the yoke and the wedge have been assembled on the rail base, however, vsuitable means are 'employed for bending or springing down the'rear endlof said wedge member so as to .provide a double .wedge as shown in Fig. 2, the rearfwedge pointing forwardly and the any tendencyl toward .forward vor backward movement results in increasing the grip of the vplianchor, as a whole, on the rail base. Th'e lr end 8 of the wedging membermay be forced downwardly invarious ways. In Figs. 1 and 2, I have shown a wedge 9 made preferably of either malleable iron or as la. forging, and somewhat longer than the,

' width yof the `rail base,gwhich wedge may be driven forward by, hammer blows directed against the two projecting ends thereof, said wedge serving notv'only to'force downwardly the, rear part v8, but serving also as a.V filler block whereby a solid backing for the rear extension 8 isfprovided. 'This insures practically a solid, wedge ,.foreithe` yoke 3 inthe same sense thatfthe forward ypart 7 constif` tutes a solid wedge, so thatgthe yoke maili-y tainsy .a continual 'pressureon the lrail inde.- pendently, in the main, of any resiliency of the Wedging` member asa whole. "The wedge 8 is locked Vagainst a rearwardmovement a beveled catch or shoulder 10 sus` atthe extreme rear of' thewedging member. n l

It will he seen that when the rail tends `to creep, the yoke 3 will tend to ride along the forward wedge 7, thus increasing its maintained regardless ofthe absence of a thrust tending to force the wedge 7 into the yoke. If the ballast should be tightly packed inthe rear of the flange 6, or be frozen solid in winter, so as to obstruct the rearward movement of said flange with the rail, the yoke 3 will then tend to ride along the rear wedge S. Thisr tendency also, as in the first case described, results in a further tightening of the hold of the rail anchor on the rail base, the rearward movement of the rail being checked to whatever extent the ballast resists the rearward pressure of said flange. -It will thus be seen that a thrust of the wedging member as a whole, in either direction, that is backward or forward, can result onlyin a further tendency to tighten the rail* anchor on the rail base. The anchor therefore, never works loose and is always effective inresisting forward creeping whenever it engages the cross-tie. y

In Figs. 3 and 4, I have shown a modified form of wedge 11, which may be driven sidewisevunder the rail instead of being driven longitudinally with respect thereto. Said wedge is received within the curved rear end` 12 of the wedging member and performs the general functions of the previously described wedge.

A further valternative construction is shown in Figs. 5 and 6'wherein a cam-like bar 13 is provided, extending transversely beneath the rail base between the latter and the rear extension 14 ofthe wedge member. Said bar is applied in the position shown in Fig. 5 and then turned by means of a suitable wrench tothe position shown in Fig. 6, resulting in bending or springing said Wedge member for the purpose described In Fig. 7 I have shown a further 16 may also be a tempered steel forging,

.although not necessarily so as the wedging .member 15 is relied on to furnish the necesemployedA with the substantially non-resilient wedging member in the form of rail i anchor previously described- AAny suitable means may beemployed to vforce said rear end downwardly. I have4 illustrated a wedge 17 similar to the wedge shown in Fig.

2 although it is to be understood that I conformof .l rail anchor in which the wedging me1nber.f r or tongue 15 is of resilient metal, prefer. ably a forging of tempered steel. The yokev template using any of the devices illustrated in the preceding figures. It will be seen that the wedging action between the yoke and the wedging member is quite similar in this form of rail anchor t'o that previously described, the` yoke increasing its grip on the rail base on a tendency toward a movement either forward or backward. Instead of a solid backing forthe wedging member, how-- ever, there is a clearance between said member and the rail base. Throughout most of the length thereof, the resiliency of said member, and to a slight extent, the resiliency of the yoke is relied on to maintain the pressure on the rail base whereas in the preceding forms of device, substantiallv solid backing is provided regardless of whether or not the wedging member has any inherent resilincy.

Having thus described my invention, what I claimas new and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States is:

1. A rail anchor comprising a yoke and a wedging member having double wedging surfaces extending forward and backwardA from the point of contact with said yoke,

one of said wedging surfaces being main- Qc n.

tained by means forced between said wedging member and the rail base after said member and-yoke have been positioned` on' the rail.

2. The combination with means for, en-

gaging opposite sides of a rail base, of means coperating therewith and engaging a tie, and additional means for insuring permanent coperation between said first and second means, to grip the rail base firmly.

3. Inv combination, a transverse member for engaging opposite flanges of a rail base, ahlongitudinal member engaging a tie and a t in" wmember insuring coperation between n rst two members to enable them to rei' 'weepng anchor comprising a tie abutting befand a yoke extending around the ibasef'and member, which in operative tionis put under stress by said memi r, 'the llatt'er being adjustable to operative posit-ion by a movement away from the rail v5. Arailanchor comprising a tie-abutting "member bearing against the rail base at one end, a yokeextending around said rail base and member at an intermediate part of the latter, and means for forcing the other end of said member away from the railbase to prventl movement of said yoke toward that en n 6. Arail anchor comprising a longitudinal member beneath the rail base, a transverse member embracing the sides of the rail base and bearing against the highest point of the under surface of said longitudinal member, and a third member arranged between said latter member and the rail base. l

7. A rail anchor comprising a longitudinal member nbeneath the rail base thelforward part of which has a wedging surface inclining downwardly, ay yoke embracing the rail base and arranged to contact with the small end ofthe wedge,fthe rear part of said member normally lying sufficiently close to .the rail base to permit said yoke to slip over it and a third member forcing the rear end of said longitudinal member awa'y from the rail base toy form a second wedge thereof, extending rear\\'ardly from Said yoke.

8. A rail anchor comprising a tie-abutting longitudinal element, a transverse railbase fiange engaging element and a. wedge holding the rear end of said' longitudinal element away from the rail base. v

E). A rail anchor comprising a tie-abutting tongue, a transverse yoke, a wedge holding .the rear end of said tongue away from the rail base and means for locking said wedge` in place.

10. A rail anchor comprising a, yoke, a tongue arranged between said yoke andrail base and bearing at its forward end against the tie, a beveled catch at the rear end of said tongue and a wedge secured by said catch between said rear end and said rail the portion of said longitudinal element to lthe rear of said transverse element being held away from the rail base by an additional member to provide a forwardly ta.- pering wedge.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed Iny name in the presence of two wit-` nesses. A

FREDERICK A. PRESTON.

Witnesses MOCLELLAN Yonne,

E. DHLIA ANDERSON. 

